User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 18 (Sub), 16 (Dub)
Return to Episode 17 (Sub) | Return to the Table of Contents | Advance to Episode 19 (Sub) Japanese title: "Nao’s Feelings! The Baton that Connects Everyone’s Bonds!!" English title: "The Great Relay Race" Interestingly, the Japanese preview for this episode emphasized Nao, while Netflix’s preview emphasized Lily. Also, I’m curious as to how a single relay race is going to sustain an entire episode. However, this show has been very entertaining so far, so I doubt the fun train will stop now! We begin with a race. There’s a quick establishing shot, a quick shot of the girls getting ready, and then the whistle blows and everyone gets going. Nao/April quickly dominates the race, leaving Reika/Chloe, Miyuki/Emily, and especially Yayoi/Lily lagging behind. Yayoi just grunts and groans in effort; Lily complains (barely audibly) that her legs are short. However, Akane/Kelsey refuses to give up. Shots of Akane/Kelsey and Nao/April are darkened. They’re quick, so the screenshots don’t match up exactly. 18 01 akane 1.png 18 02 kelsey 1.png 18 03 nao 1.png 18 04 april 1.png Nao/April still wins by a wide margin. The others finish, and Yayoi/Lily is completely exhausted. Dialogue is added where Kelsey tells April to slow down because she’s making the other four look bad, and where Lily deliriously asks if the race is over and if she won. Akane/Kelsey congratulates Nao/April, who says she runs a lot in soccer practice. Reika/Chloe says that Nao/April should represent them in the girls’ relay race. Miyuki/Emily, however, doesn’t know what the relay race is. Akane/Kelsey says it’s the biggest competition in the big event next week. Name Change: In the sub, the big event is called the Sports Meet. In the dub, it’s Fitness Day. Miyuki/Emily gets excited and cheers Nao/April on. In the sub, Nao says she’s no good with competitions and Miyuki laments it’s a waste; in the dub, April says that she’d need four other people, so the other team members would have to join her, and Emily and Lily panic. We get the opening themes. Then, we cut to the classroom. Japanese text on the blackboard is changed to English text, and the episode title is added over the shot in the dub. Both versions have a sign-up list for the various sporting events. It’s a scrolling shot, so I couldn’t get everything. However, the sub screenshot contains sign-ups for the girls’ and boys’ relay races (Inoue and Munemoto) and the dub shot ends with an empty relay race signup. 18 05 japanese chalkboard.png 18 06 english chalkboard.png Reika/Chloe asks the class if anyone wants to sign up for the girls’ relay race. Miyuki/Emily and Akane/Kelsey whisper at Nao/April to do it. In the sub, some classmates say that Class 1 and Class 4 are filled with track team members; in the dub, they say Room 10 is filled with track team members. In both versions, they say their class doesn’t stand a chance. After a long while of discussion, Nao/April stands up and volunteers. Akane/Kelsey and Miyuki/Emily are happy. However, the class points out that Nao/April will need teammates. In the sub, they retain this position; in the dub, a boy suggests that April could run the race by herself. Nao/April then nominates Miyuki/Emily, Akane/Kelsey, Yayoi/Lily, and Reika/Chloe to run with her. In the sub, each girl yells, a couple other classmate yells, and the entire class yells. In the dub, it’s much the same, except Kelsey says, “Say what?” and Lily screams, “No!” Nao/April, however, is happy that the matter is settled. The sub shows the title card. Then, we cut to the Bad End Kingdom/Shadow Realm. Akaoni is imagining filling the world with demons with his iron club, while Brute is imagining playing baseball with the Glitter Force using his iron club. Then, Joker/Rascal interrupts. He’s looking for the other two villains because he wants the trio to combine their forces to defeat Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. Here’s a trend I’ve been noticing: while both Joker and Rascal look down on their subordinates, Rascal is a lot more open about it than Joker is. This time, he outright calls Ulric and Brooha idiots. Akaoni/Brute is mad about the idea of working together. In the sub, Akaoni says that only weaklings work in teams and that he can defeat Pretty Cure himself, and Joker sarcastically cheers him on. In the dub, Brute says that “trolls don’t do ‘together’” and calls Ulric and Brooha losers, and Rascal says it takes one to know one. We cut back to the track field in school, where the girls are practicing the relay race. Akane/Kelsey runs first (silent in the dub, asking how she let herself get talked into the race in the dub). She tries to give the baton to Miyuki/Emily, but the latter can’t catch it. Nao/April laughs nervously. Then she sees Reika/Chloe running in place and talking herself through it. Nao/April advises that Reika/Chloe move forward, and Reika/Chloe panics and does so. Nao/April then sees Yayoi/Lily running. Yayoi/Lily trips, but doesn’t fall over. Yayoi is silent; Lily says that at least she isn’t doing hurdles. A classmate passes Miyuki/Emily and Yayoi/Lily, and the former asks who she is. In the sub, Akane says he’s a track member from Class 1 and Reika says they’re fast as expected; in the dub, only Kelsey speaks, and she says that she’s their competition from Room 10. Nao/April is excited for the race and tells the girls not to worry about the other teams and just do the best they can. Reika/Chloe, Akane/Kelsey, and Miyuki/Emily agree. In the sub, Miyuki says they’ll follow Nao and Akane says they’ll be the 5 Pretty Cure again; in the dub, Kelsey says she’ll do better than her best, Emily asks how that’s possible, and Kelsey says that they can do anything because they’re Team Glitter Force. Yayoi/Lily, however, isn’t so sure. In the sub, she looks on silently; in the dub, she thinks, “Aw, man…” We cut to the five walking home. Nao/April is giving them directions. She says that Akane/Kelsey will run first and that Miyuki/Emily will practice catching the baton. Miyuki says she will absolutely not drop the baton, while Emily says, “The baton and I will become as one.” Then, Nao tells Reika to move her body instead of her head (whatever that means) and Yayoi to try sprinting, while April tells Chloe to focus less on her technique and Lily to work on her time. Yayoi/Lily stops and says she shouldn’t be in the race because she’ll ruin it for everyone. Yayoi says she’s always dead last in sports, while Lily says she’s never won. Nao/April tells Yayoi/Lily to not worry about winning or losing and do her best, but Yayoi/Lily still isn’t confident. In the sub, Yayoi asks why Nao chose her and we have a long period of silence; in the dub, Lily says that she’ll ensure the team will lose and there is no silence. Nao/April apologizes for dragging Yayoi/Lily into the race and says that she was just really excited to run with all of her friends. The other three look on; it’s silent in the sub, but Lily says, “Yeah, maybe…” in the dub. Miyuki/Emily is happy with Nao/April’s sentiment. Then, Candy comes out. I’ve been wondering what she was doing this episode! In the sub, Candy shouts that she’s here too, and Nao says that she’ll be with her as well as the other girls. In the dub, Candy shouts, “GO TEAM GLITTER FORCE!!” and April says she can cheer them on as long as nobody hears her. Nao/April says that they’ll practice more tomorrow morning, and Miyuki/Emily and Candy say goodbye. When Yayoi/Lily seems unsure, Akane says they’ll do their best together, while Kelsey says they’ve got her back. Miyuki says the same old “don’t focus on winning, do your best” shtick, while Emily tells Lily not to focus on winning, but just have fun. The rephrasing makes it more convincing that Yayoi/Lily smiles and says she’ll do her best. In the sub, Candy says she’ll try her best too and Akane tells everyone to do their best; in the dub, Candy cheers on Team Glitter Force again and Kelsey tells her to save it for the race. We cut to Miyuki/Emily’s house at night. Candy is helping Miyuki/Emily practice catching the baton. When Miyuki/Emily asks if she’s good, Candy decides to give her the Sports Décor/Charm as a reward. They got that Décor/Charm last episode, which wasn’t included in Glitter Force. The dub never explains how they got the Sports Charm, though it can be assumed the girls had another fight offscreen. Miyuki/Emily puts the Sports Décor/Charm in her Smile/Glitter Pact, and it puts a gold medal around her neck, which Miyuki/Emily is happy about. Name Change: The Sports Décor '''in the sub actually seems to be the '''Gold Medal Charm in the dub. It’s never stated outright, but I surmised it from what the Glitter Pact said when Emily put the Charm in. See, when a Glitter Charm is put in the Glitter Pact, the Pact says, “Activate Glitter Charm! Name!” and this time it said, “Activate Glitter Charm! Gold Medal!” In the sub, Candy asks Miyuki if she’s excited for the race, and Miyuki says she is and cheers on her class. In the dub, Candy reminds Emily that it isn’t about winning, and Emily says that while it’s about having fun, winning would be very exciting. We cut to practice in the neighborhood the next morning. Yayoi/Lily and Nao/April are running together. In the sub, they’re just breathing; in the dub, April tells Lily to keep breathing and Lily says it’s easier than it sounds. Then, Miyuki/Emily runs up behind them with Candy in tow. Miyuki says it’s time to get this started, while Emily asks if catching up to April can count as training for today. We then cut to the track. Reika/Chloe is showing Yayoi/Lily and Miyuki/Emily her technique. After the two get it, Nao/April tells the girls to get going. However, Reika/Chloe runs in place again (silent in the sub, saying, “Raise the knees and swing the arms!” in the dub), and Nao/April has to remind her to actually go forward. There’s then a montage of the girls practicing. It’s silent in the sub, but there’s dialogue added in the dub, as usual. The montage ends when Nao/April tells Yayoi/Lily that she’s even faster than before, which makes Yayoi/Lily happy. We cut to the girls walking home at sunset. At the beginning, dialogue is added where April says she can’t believe how much the others have improved in just a week. Miyuki/Emily says that tomorrow’s the big day, and Akane/Kelsey gets excited and hugs Miyuki/Emily, Yayoi/Lily, and Reika/Chloe. In the sub, Miyuki responds by complaining about Akane; in the dub, Chloe says she has to run forward. Yayoi/Lily suddenly remembers she forgot something in the classroom (specified as a lunchbox in the dub), and the girls decide to meet her in front of the school. We cut to her running to the classroom. When she stops to go in, she overhears some classmates talking about how they’re definitely going to lose the girls’ relay race because Yayoi/Lily sucks. She’s so sad that she forgets to go in the room and walks away. Yayoi is silent; Lily mutters, “They’re right…” We cut outside the school. Reika/Chloe remarks that Yayoi/Lily is late right before she arrives. The girls call out to her. In the sub, Candy complains about Yayoi being late, while in the dub, Candy asks if Lily got her lunchbox. Yayoi/Lily refuses to tell the girls about what she heard, so Miyuki/Emily pushes her along with them as they run home. When Akane/Kelsey says to eat a lot of food to gain stamina for the race, sub Candy says, “Kuru kuru!” (she often uses her verbal tic as an interjection) while dub Candy jokes about “Glitter Carbs”. Then, we cut to Akaoni/Brute hovering over the city. Akaoni says he’s going to collect Bad Energy, while Brute says that he can crush the planet all by himself. We get the eyecatches in the sub, which show Cure March and Candy. Then, we cut to the race. A shot of the big sign signaling the Sports Meet is removed from the dub. We get a montage of a bunch of sports in the event, some of which the main characters participate in. Then, an announcer (female in the sub, male in the dub) announces the start of the girls’ relay race. The girls walk over to the track to begin. We see the other teams preparing. Miyuki says she’s nervous, while Emily says she’s going to throw up. Reika/Chloe advises her to take a deep breath. As the two do so, Yayoi/Lily nervously looks to the spectators and finds the classmates who were talking about her. Dialogue is added in the dub where Emily says she feels better and the classmates say the race is going to be ugly. Nao/April asks if Yayoi/Lily is okay, and Yayoi/Lily starts to say she can’t do the race. Nao/April then points the baton at Lily, stopping her. Nao tells everyone to focus on the baton, combine their powers, and run to the very end; April tells them to focus on each other and what they’ve learned and tells the they’re going to win together. Miyuki/Emily and Akane/Kelsey nod. Reika says, “Of course!” in the dub and “With teamwork!” in the dub. Dialogue is added where April says, “That’s it! Exactly!” Yayoi/Lily, however, is still not sure. Akaoni/Brute interrupts them and says that teamwork is stupid. In the sub, Akaoni says that teamwork is unnecessary; in the dub, Brute tries and fails to say, “Teamwork schmeamwork!” and tells everyone that teamwork is for sissies. Candy calls out that it’s Akaoni/Brute. Akaoni then says that he doesn’t need teamwork because he’s strong by himself, while Brute says that teamwork is an excuse people use when they’re too weak to do things by themselves. He then summons a Bad End and turns a net into a blue-nosed Akanbe/Buffoon. In the dub, Brute says, “Buffoon, get down here!” just like the previous dubbed episode, and the Wheel of Doom going from 17 to 18 instead of 16 to 17 is not explained. Miyuki yells at Akaoni for messing up the Sports Meet, while Emily tells Brute they’ll show him the power of teamwork. She tells the others to transform, and they do so (Peace chooses scissors). Akaoni says, “So you’re here, Pretty Cure!” while Brute says, “There goes the Glitter Force!” He then orders the Akanbe/Buffoon to attack. The Akanbe/Buffoon shoots beanbags at the girls, but they jump away in time. However, it then uses a rope as a whip, which they have a harder time escaping. Dialogue is added where Glitter Lucky says she’s got the Buffoon and then rectifies her statement. Cure Sunny says they have to use Rainbow Healing, while Glitter Sunny says they’ll have to “up their game.” However, Sunny is interrupted by another smack of the rope. Akaoni says that they won’t have the time to perform Rainbow Healing and that the five of them are weak; Brute sarcastically compliments their teamwork and asks if their team is called the Losers. March/Spring catches the Akanbe/Buffon’s rope and pulls on it so the monster can’t retract it. The other four girls join in, and it becomes a tug-of-war team with Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force against the Akanbe/Buffoon. In the sub, the girls say, “O, S! O, S!” (which is apparently something Japanese people say when they play tug-of-war and then shout, “SOS! SOS!” and March says they have it wrong. In the dub, the girls say, “Heave, ho! Heave, ho!” and they ask all at once if they heave or if they ho, and Spring says it doesn’t matter. Both jokes are awkward. The Akanbe/Buffoon shakes the rope, sending the girls flying. However, March catches the rope, and the other girls cling to it again. Akaoni/Brute tells the girls to give up because they’re going to lose anyway. Interestingly, Cure March says, “Still lose?” (echoing Akaoni) while Glitter Spring is silent. Akaoni/Brute says that the girls are weak, and that he works alone because he doesn’t like others dragging him down. Peace has a brief upset look (in the sub, it’s silent; in the dub Brute continues his speech by saying “a link is only as strong as its weakest team” and then corrects himself). March/Spring protests. March says that there are things one can’t do alone, that she wants to be with her friends whether as Pretty Cure or in the race, and that together there’s nothing they can’t do. Spring says that in a team, there are no weak links, because people become stronger when they work together. I should note that in this part in the sub, the background music being played is called "Persistent Fighting Spirit". It's based off of “Flaring Fighting Spirit”, which happens to be my favorite non-vocal song in the entire franchise. Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves it, because "Flaring Fighting Spirit", or at least remixes of it, have appeared in HeartCatch, Suite, and now this season! Cure Peace echoes, “Everyone… our powers…” after March, while Glitter Peace says that all it takes is faith in themselves. The other three voice their agreement with March/Spring and they pull even harder on the rope, causing the Akanbe/Buffoon to fall over. Akaoni says it’s impossible, while Brute yells at the Buffoon to stand up. The girls take the opportunity to use Rainbow Healing/Tiara Mode Torrent and defeat the Akanbe/Buffoon. Cure Peace tells the others, “Let’s connect that baton!” while Glitter Peace says she thinks they can win the race. Sunny and Beauty/Breeze voice their agreement. Cure March voices her excitement to do their best together, while Glitter Spring says they can always try to win. Akaoni tells the girls not to act like they’ve won (they have.) while Brute gets mad that the girls are treating him like he isn’t even there. Akaoni/Brute then teleports away, turning everyone back to normal. We cut to the race. The crowd cheers, and the group of girls cheers on Akane/Kelsey, who starts off the race. The announcer speaks over the entire thing, announcing the start of the race and the team with the purple headbands being in the lead. The Japanese announcer makes no mention of the red team (the team the main characters are on) being in second place, but the American announcer does. A shot of Akane/Kelsey running as she gives the baton to Miyuki/Emily is darkened in the dub. (Screenshots not exact.) 18 08 akane 2.png|"MIYUKIIIII!" 18 09 kelsey 2.png|"Okay, Emily! Just like we practiced!" Miyuki/Emily catches the baton, and her class cheers her on. As Miyuki/Emily runs, Reika/Chloe takes a deep breath. Reika is silent, while Chloe has an internal monologue in which she says, “Deep breath…” Miyuki/Emily gives the baton to Reika/Chloe. In the sub, Miyuki calls out her name and Reika responds, “Yes!” In the dub, Emily asks if Chloe is asleep and Chloe says, “Not even close!” Reika/Chloe has an internal monologue with the usual “raise the legs and swing the arms” shtick, but also with her reminding herself to go forward (Reika says, “Go forward!” once; Chloe repeats it). The red team is still in second, behind the purple team. Reika/Chloe hands the baton to Yayoi/Lily. She does her best, but the teams behind catch up with her. A shot of Yayoi/Lily running is darkened. 18 10 yayoi 1.png 18 11 lily 1.png|''I knew it! I knew I couldn't do it!'' Yayoi/Lily panics at first, but she has an inner monologue (longer in the dub) in which she refuses to give up hope. More shots of Yayoi/Lily running are darkened. Japanese version: 18 12 yayoi 2.png 18 14 yayoi 3.png 18 16 yayoi 4.png English version: 18 13 lily 2.png|''You can do things you never dreamed of!'' 18 15 lily 3.png 18 17 lily 4.png Yayoi/Lily is neck-to-neck with the competitor on the orange team. Miyuki/Emily looks on in panic. Miyuki is silent, while Emily internally monologues that they should be cheering her on instead of being silent. She takes a deep breath, only to be interrupted by a male classmate cheering Yayoi/Lily on. (Unfortunately, he’s rather poorly acted in the dub. Also, the sub boy says he’ll never forgive Yayoi if she loses, while the dub boy tells the class to make some noise.) This leads the rest of the class to cheer her on, too. Yayoi/Lily is motivated enough to gain a lead on the orange opponent. This means more darkening! Japanese version: 18 18 yayoi 5.png 18 20 yayoi 6.png English version: 18 19 lily 5.png 18 21 lily 6.png Nao/April starts running, and Yayoi/Lily passes the baton to her. Yayoi shouts Nao’s name, while Lily shouts at April not to forget the baton. After Nao/April catches it, Yayoi/Lily stops, and Miyuki/Emily hugs her. Then, Nao/April has an inner monologue. Nao thinks that she has to combine everyone’s powers, while April says that Lily gave them a chance and she has to bring it home. She catches up with everyone Yayoi/Lily fell behind. Nao/April gets very close to the purple competitor. Yayoi/Lily cheers her on (shouting her name in the sub and shouting “RUN!!” in the dub). Nao/April is motivated enough to go in front of the purple competitor… only to trip and fall. Even though she gets up and runs after falling, she still finishes in last place. After she stops running, she cries. Nao is silent until she quietly apologizes to the other four; April inner-monologues that she let everyone down when they were so close. To Nao/April’s surprise, the other girls (aside from Reika/Chloe, for some reason) hug her and congratulate her (Kelsey commenting in the dub that nobody lost a limb). The others cry, too (though in the dub, Emily and Kelsey don’t sound too much like they are). Reika/Chloe is standing to the side and crying a bit (I guess she’s not much of a hugger!). Reika says that they connected the baton to the very end, while Chloe says she remembered to run forward once in a while. Nao says she’s thankful they all got to run in the race together, while April asks if they really aren’t disappointed. Reika/Chloe joins in on the hug, and the rest of the class runs to congratulate the team. We get a montage of the girls crying some more and everyone celebrating. In the sub, this is silent; in the dub, Emily says that April was right and that having fun is more important than winning, and April replies that Team Glitter Force is the best team she could possibly have. And then the episode ends! Overall: When I first read the synopsis of this episode, I thought I was going to be bored. That was far from the case. This episode was well-written and well-dubbed. Also, the focus on two characters, Yayoi/Lily and Nao/April, made it interesting. I identified with Yayoi/Lily’s lack of faith in herself (especially considering this is the second time this series she’s been bullied), and Nao/April’s failure at the end reminded the audience that there is no one weak link and everyone is capable of messing up. It was well written, well done, and really emotional at the end. What a great time! Next episode: Yayoi finds out more about her deceased father! Category:Blog posts